Wimbledon kicked off this week and instead of the usual offering of strawberries and cream we thought we'd look at some more exciting - and unusual - ways to enjoy some locally sourced Scottish strawberries.
Here's the five recipes we found to brighten up your Wimbledon viewing:
Strawberry Soup (serves 8 people)
(Submitted by Paul Gunning, head chef and proprietor of Purslane, Edinburgh)
Picture: timsackton\Flickr
Ingredients:
• Strawberry Jus
• 750ml rose wine
• 100g sugar
• 8 whole black peppercorns
• Bay leaf
• Rosemary
• Vanilla
• 4 strawberries
Method:
In a blender, combine the strawberry jus, wine, sugar, peppercorns and vanilla. Purée until well mixed. Add the halved strawberries and leave to cool.
Serve with Bay leaf - or dollop of ice cream - for garnish.
Strawberry cheesecake (Serves 4)
(Submitted by Jason Wright, head chef of Steak Edinburgh)
Picture: Heather\Flickr
Ingredients
• 85g hob-nob biscuits (they work best in my opinion)
• 200g tub soft cheese
• 200g tub Creme fraiche
• 4 tbsp caster sugar
• Few drops vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp good-quality strawberry jam
• 100g strawberries , hulled and sliced
Method:
Put the biscuits in a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin until you have chunky crumbs then divide between four glasses or small bowls.
Beat the soft cheese, Creme fraiche, sugar and vanilla together until smooth, then spoon over the crumbs and chill until you are ready to serve.
Stir the jam in a bowl until loose, then gently stir in the strawberries. Divide the strawberries between the cheesecakes and serve.
Strawberry Tarte Tatin (serves 4)
(Submitted by Mark Greenaway, head chef and proprietor of Restaurant Mark Greenaway)
Picture: TSPL
Ingredients:
• 12 strawberries
• 250g caster sugar
• 35g butter
• 125g all butter puff pastry
• Your favourite vanilla ice cream
• Vanilla pods to garnish
Method:
In a heavy-based frying pan pour in your sugar and heat over a medium heat on the cooker top.
Roll out your puff pastry until half a centimetre thick. Take all the tops off or “hull” your strawberries. As your sugar starts turning into caramel give it a stir with a wooden spoon. Once a nice dark walnut colour is achieved add in the butter, being careful as the sugar is very hot.
Leave the caramel to cool for about five minutes in the pan. Arrange all the strawberries in the pan with the cut side up. Adding the cold strawberries to the caramel will allow them to stand up straight. Lay over your rolled out puff pastry and tuck all the edges down the side of your pan.
Make three or four small holes in the puff pastry with a fork to allow steam to escape whilst cooking. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to cool for five minutes before turning out, being very careful as this will still be piping hot. Serve with a scoop of ice cream on top and maybe some double cream on the side. Lay over the vanilla pods to garnish.
Serving this dessert whole allows your guests to help themselves – just make sure you take your portion first!
Scottish strawberry tarts (serves 4)
(Submitted by Tom Kitchin, head chef and proprietor at The Kitchin)
Picture: Marc Millar
Ingredients:
• 250g plain flour
• 50g icing sugar
• 150g unsalted butter, in pieces
• 1 free-range medium egg
• 1 free range egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 500ml whipped cream
• 1 punnet of strawberries
• 250g fresh home-made strawberry jam – if you don’t have time to make jam at home, then you can still use a jar of good quality strawberry jam
• lemon thyme leaves
• sprinkle of cracked black pepper
You will also need 4 x flan tins – 7.5cm diameter and 2.5cm deep
Method:
To make the pastry
Sift the flour and icing sugar together in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Mix in the egg and pulse gently until the dough just comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, knead gently, then flatten into a round.
Wrap in cling-film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4 and roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 3-4mm thickness and use to line 4 individual flan tins of 7.5cm in diameter and 2.5cm deep, then trim the edges.
Place in the fridge to rest for 15 minutes before baking.
Remove from the fridge and add some parchment paper and a layer of baking beans to each tin.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes, then remove the beans and paper and cook for another 10 minutes or until golden.
While the pastry is still warm, brush the inside with the beaten egg yolk as this helps to seal the pastry from the tart filling and ensures a crispy base.
To make the strawberry filling
Once the pastry is baked and cooled, fill the base of the pasty with whipped cream.
Remove the stalks from the strawberries and cut into quarters.
Place on top of the whipped cream.
Meanwhile in a pan, heat the strawberry jam until it thins.
Pass the jam through a sieve to remove any seeds.
Brush the strawberry jam mixture over the strawberries then garnish with lemon thyme leaves. Sprinkle with cracked black pepper.
Strawberry millefeuille (serves 4)
(Submitted by Tom Kitchin, head chef and proprietor at The Kitchin)
Picture: Wikimedia
Ingredients:
• One large sheet ready-made puff pastry
• Icing sugar
• 150g whipped cream
• 2 punnets strawberries
Method:
Pre heat oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Place a sheet of puff pastry on to a sheet of greaseproof paper then place both on a baking tray. Prick the pastry all over with a fork. Dust with icing sugar all over. Place into oven and cook for 15-18 mins or until ready.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool. Cut into rectangles approximately twice as long as they are wide.
To serve:
Place the pastry in the centre of each plate and top with some whipped cream.
Lay some of the sliced strawberries on top of the cream, then top with a second piece of pastry.
Repeat the process with the remaining cream and strawberries and top with the final piece of pastry.
Dust with icing sugar and serve with strawberries and ice cream or strawberry sorbet
